NSCDC, Tanker Drivers Saga Leads To Fuel Scarcity In Yenagoa

Following a clash between personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and fuel tanker drivers along the East-West Road in Rivers State, fUEL scarcity has hit Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The clash, said to have occurred sometime in May, resulted in the destruction of a truck over alleged involvement of the driver in fake petroleum product dealings. The development led to protest by members of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the decision not to deliver product to Bayelsa State.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Boma Jack, blamed the scarcity on an unresolved conflict between NUPENG and security agencies, regretting the untold hardship it has brought on Bayelsans. According to him, the security agencies had arrested a tanker purported to be conveying fake petroleum products to Bayelsa State on May 14, at Okogbe in Rivers State, destroyed same and handed over the driver of the truck to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution. He explained that based on this development, NUPENG ordered that no truck should convey products to Bayelsa State, until the truck and the products were replaced.
Virtually all the filing stations have closed shops, with the few selling fuel hiking the pump price from N145 to N200 per litre. Most motorists in the state have started groaning under the effect of the NUPENG action. While the fuel stations are under lock and key, a thriving black market has sprung up in front of shut down stations, selling at night to motorists between N200 and N250. However, the state government has expressed concern over the biting scarcity and has pledged its determination to take urgent steps to address the problem.